The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
Conventional car wash systems typically include at least one station dedicated to shining tires of a vehicle. Such conventional systems may include an applicator that selectively receives a cleaning solution and/or shining solution and applies the solution directly to a surface of a vehicle tire. In one configuration, the conventional tire-shine system may include an absorbent foam pad having a shining solution applied at a central portion thereof, which is received and absorbed once applied. Absorbing the shining solution allows the pad to shine the exterior surface of the tire by applying the shining solution to the tire, as the tire passes by the foam pad.
While conventional tire-shine systems adequately apply a shining solution to an exterior surface of a vehicle tire, such conventional systems are costly to operate and do not consistently apply the shining solution to the exterior surface of the vehicle tire. For example, while a tire-shine system including a foam pad adequately absorbs a shining solution and applies the shining solution to an exterior surface of a vehicle tire, the foam pad may become saturated over a period of time and may apply excessive amounts of the shining solution to the vehicle tire when multiple vehicles are consecutively cleaned.
Applying excessive amounts of a shining solution to a foam pad and, thus, to a vehicle tire, may result in the shining solution being applied to surfaces of the vehicle such as a rim and/or body panel and may also cause the shining solution to be applied to moving and/or working components of the tire-shine apparatus. Furthermore, such excess use of the shining solution increases costs associated with operation of the tire-shine system, as shining solution is wasted during periods of high use.
While reducing the amount of shining solution applied to the foam pad may help prevent saturation of the pad during periods of high use, reducing the amount of shining solution applied to the pad often results in an insufficient amount of shining solution applied to vehicle tires especially during periods of infrequent use, as the reduced application of shining solution fails to sufficiently wet the foam pad.